


To Survive

by LadyOfFics



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fleeing village that's trying to kill them, Good Parents Ikkaku and Kohari, Help, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Iruka is not from Konoha, Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, Kid Umino Iruka, Kirigakure | Hidden Mist Village, Konoha is safe, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Not Beta Read, What am I doing, but he lives here now, he wasn't born there, i wrote this instead of doing homework, i'm not good at this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26622055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfFics/pseuds/LadyOfFics
Summary: The best thing you can do in a village hunting down and destroying family Kekkei Genkais? Flee to another village.
Relationships: Mitarashi Anko & Umino Iruka, Umino Ikkaku/Umino Kohari
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading some Naruto things, and this idea popped into my head about Iruka and his family. I thought to myself, "What if the Umino family fled Kiri?" and this came out. It is my first official work, so please let me know what you think!

Lungs burning, chest heaving, sweat running down their bodies, Kohari and Ikkaku stopped for a moment in the next tree to catch their breath. Kohari looked to her husband as he clutched the trunk of the tree in one hand and the bundle strapped to his chest with the other. Kohari turned and scanned behind them, looking for any sign of pursuit.

"Anything?" Ikkaku gasped out. Kohari turned back to her husband, feeling the scar-like lines on her cheeks and temples and circles around her eyes fade back into her clear skin.

"Nothing yet, but we shouldn't linger," she replied. "they could be close." Ikkaku nodded and braced himself for another set of jumps through the trees. They were close now, and hopefully they would come across a patrol soon.

Umino Kohari and Ikkaku had smuggled themselves all the way from Kiri, hiding as civilian passengers on a trading boat. The Uminos had spent the days leading up to their boat departure in hiding, selling all their non-important worldly possessions they could for travel rations and extra ryo, using all of their jonin training and skills to stay hidden and out of sight of the Kiri ANBU. It was only when they were safely on the trading vessel headed away from Mist that they could breathe a bit more easily.

The most difficult part had not been smuggling themselves, but smuggling themselves plus a baby. Little Iruka, only three months old, had to be put under a sleeping genjutsu in order to keep him quiet throughout the trip. The little baby had been under the genjutsu for hours before Kohari and Ikkaku left the boat behind and got to fire country. It was only then on foreign soil that the parents felt comfortable enough to lift the genjutsu. Luckily, baby Iruka was a happy and content baby, looking at the new forest scenery around him with interest.

Now, after stopping earlier for a feeding and changing, little Iruka was sleeping peacefully on his father's chest, safely wrapped in his carrier and zipped up under his father's travel cloak.

Suddenly, Kohari snapped her head around to the way they had come, feeling the scarred lines and circles appear on her face.

"Move!" she commanded, jumping off the branch she was on and propelling herself forward, Ikkaku following close behind. Shortly after landing in fire country, the couple realized that they had been followed. Kohari estimated they had about a ten-minute head start on their pursuers, just barely enough time to keep from getting caught. Both Kohari and Ikkaku knew what would happen if they allowed the hunting party behind them to catch up.

Kohari hazarded a glance behind them and cursed. There were six of them now as opposed to the three that had chased them from the boat.

 _Kiri must have sent several teams after us_ , Kohari thought wirily. She wasn't surprised, after all, since she was one of the only ones left in Kiri with a kekkei genkai. The Mizukage had ordered the extermination of all kekkei genkai users in Kiri, resulting in the mass genocide of several clans. Kohari, being a well-known jonin, had been in hiding since the order, terrified of the ANBU coming for her and her young family.

Turning back to face the trees ahead, Kohari cursed and pulled to a quick stop, Ikkaku following suit a step behind her. In front of them stook a team of four ANBU, though these ANBU were not of Kiri. A team of Konoha ANBU were in front of them.

"State your business," an ANBU in a monkey mask demanded. “Identify yourselves."

"Umino Kohari and Ikkaku. We have come from Kirigakure to seek sanctuary from Konohagakure," Kohari gasped out. "Please, we request sanctuary for our family."

"Please," Ikkaku gasped out. "we are being hunted. They'll kill us, even our son." He clutched the precious sleeping bundle that was Iruka, terrified for his young son.

The ANBU exchanged looks, though it was hard to tell what was communicated with the masks they wore. After a moment, the ANBU in the monkey mask spoke once more.

"We will escort you to the gates and to the Hokage," Monkey decided. "The Hokage will decide your fate." With that declaration, Kohari and Ikkaku were surrounded by the other three ANBU, one in a bird mask, one in a fish mask, and one in a horse mask.

Once the other ANBU were in place, Monkey turned and jumped forward, the group behind him following. Kohari let out a relieved exhale and exchanged a glance with her husband. Ikkaku looked back at her with a look of exhausted relief. The parents could only hope, as they were escorted toward Konoha, that the Hokage would protect and welcome them into the village.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I had a couple people say they would like me to continue in this universe, and so I have decided that this will likely become a full story. I have no idea how long this will be, as I am basically writing off the top of my head with very little planning... we'll see how this goes. This one is a bit longer than chapter one, so hopefull everybody enjoys!

The ANBU squad pushed the Uminos into a significantly faster pace than what they were previously keeping. The ANBU kept a tight circle around the Mist jonin, either to protect them or to make sure they didn't strike out at them, Kohari wasn't sure. Kohari kept her Hankyō activated all the while they were jumping, scanning behind her just as she did before the ANBU showed up. On one such scan, she caught sight of a ping. Several chakra signatures, bright spots in an otherwise dead chakra zone in the trees, had gained on them. There were more than before, at least nine by her estimation.

"Monkey-san!" Kohari yelled to the ANBU leader. "The enemy is coming up behind at six o'clock. At least nine, possibly more hostiles," she reported. Monkey glanced back at the anxious jonin. He took note of her eyes, or at least where her eyes should be. For on Kohari's face, there were what seemed to be empty black eyes, not a hint of white anywhere in them. Around the eye sockets, there was a small ring of skin, followed by an inch-thick black circle around the entire socket. Branching out from the black circle were raised bumps, not unlike scars. The ends of the lines seemed to cover the upper half of the jonin's face, the pointed ends starting at Kohari's hairline and her mid cheeks. The tips were white but gradually darkened into a deep black where they joined at the black circle ringing her eye sockets, making it look like there was a black spiderweb on the Mist jonin’s face. Altogether, it was an unsettling look to the ANBU.

"How close?" questioned Monkey. Kohari hazarded a glance back once more, noting the position of the chakra signatures.

"They'll be on us in the next five minutes," she answered, her face set in a grim expression. Monkey cursed, knowing that they were at least 20 minutes from the gate. With a burst of chakra to his legs, Monkey launched himself to the next branch, causing the pace of the group to increase. There was barely half a second between landing on one branch and jumping to the next. Kohari and Ikkaku were gasping for breath due to the increased speed, yet they were determined to reach the safety of the village. They had come too far and were too close to fail now.

Kohari suddenly whipped her head around, finding the small ping of chakra she had noticed. It was barley there, but it was just big enough to register to her senses.

“Get down!” she screamed at the group and jumped down several branches. Ikkaku, used to his wife’s sudden commands, braced Iruka to his chest and followed suit, the Konoha ANBU following close behind them. They were just in time to avoid an explosion in the exact spot they would have jumped to if it had not been for Kohari. A thrown kuani with an exploding tag was the culprit, and the initial explosion was immediately followed by seven more, causing the trees to shake violently. Kohari jumped to Ikkaku who was on the branch just above her, pushing him into the tree trunk and shielding the front of him from falling tree branches.

When the branches stopped falling, Kohari lifted her head from where she had tucked it over the bulge in Ikkaku’s coat that was Iruka, drawing two kuani as she did so. Scanning the surrounding area, Kohari took note of the hostile chakra signatures forming a circle around the Konoha ANBU and their charges. The four ANBU circled up around the Uminos, using the tree branches extending in front and to the sides of them to keep them in the center, Kohari in front of Ikkaku. Kohari followed a strong chakra signature as it made its way in front of the group. An ANBU in a swan mask materialized in front of them.

“Release the Mist jonin to us and you will leave with your lives,” intoned Swan with a flat voice. Directly in front of Kohari and Ikkaku, Monkey raised his kuani in front of him.

“You are in Fire Country now,” he stated in the same flat voice. “These jonin are under the protection of the Hokage. Return to the Mist; you have no business here.”

Swan tilted his head in consideration. Before he could make a move, Kohari saw the tell-tale signs of chakra coming up on them with the speed only high-level shinobi could match. Emerging from the trees behind Swan, a squad of eight Konoha ANBU appeared. 

“You are trespassing on the soil of Fire country,” the Konoha ANBU in an Ox mask who appeared to be leading the group stated. “Leave our lands peacefully and you will be allowed to live.” 

Swan looked to Ox and his group, then back to the ANBU squad surrounding Kohari and Ikkaku. Realizing they were outnumbered, Swan turned and beckoned to the other eight Kiri ANBU, causing them to disband their circle and jump away into the trees. With a hand sign from Ox, the seven ANBU with him pealed off to follow the Kiri ANBU to make sure they left Fire country peacefully. As they left, Kohari slumped against Ikkaku, the adrenalin leaving her body and exhaustion taking it’s place. Kohari closed her eyes and released her Hankyō, feeling the lines and circles on her face recede. Ikkaku wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling Kohari around to face him and tucking her against his side.

Ox leveled a look at Monkey, the two of them communicating with small head movements and hand signs. Kohari watched as the two seemed to finish their conversation after several minutes of silence. It was just as the two ANBU were turning to the Uminos that a sound from Ikkaku’s chest drew everyone’s eyes. Movement could be seen from the bundle that Ikkaku still had strapped to his chest. Ikkaku quickly unfastened his travel cloak to reveal a small head of brown hair much like this own. Bright brown eyes heavy with sleep stared up at Ikkaku from the little face that had been revealed. Iruka, awakened from his nap, gurgled happily at his father and tried to free a hand to shove in his mouth. Seeing him struggle, Kohari reached into her pocket and pulled out a pacifier, quickly putting it in Iruka’s mouth before he could become frustrated with the carrier restricting his movements. After making sure Iruka was happily sucking on the pacifier, Kohari and Ikkaku turned to face the ANBU, Ikkaku with one hand on Iruka’s back. Monkey seemed to shake himself of whatever thoughts were running through his mind. 

“Come,” he commanded turning his back to them. “Konoha awaits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what ya'll think! I love reading comments! They brighten my day!
> 
> -LadyOfFics


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos so far! It really brightens my day to see so many people enjoying this little story. Here is the next chapter!

Exhaustion was quickly creeping upon Kohari as she pushed herself forward into the tree branches. Ikkaku was a steady presence to her right, watching her for signs of fatigue while cradling Iruka with one arm as he jumped between branches. Iruka, having woken from his nap, was not happy to be under Ikkaku's travel cloak once more, and was making his displeasure known through a series of wines and sharp cries.

Kohari glanced to the bundle of her son attached to the chest of Ikkaku, wanting nothing more than to comfort her baby. She knew that they were close to the gates of Konoha and would arrive any moment. She just had to hold on for a few more minutes, then she could cuddle and comfort her baby from the safety of the village, and damn what the ANBU and other locals thought.

Since leaving the site of their confrontation with the Mist ANBU, the Konoha ANBU had resumed their previous formation around the Uminos, but this time, both Monkey and Ox were in the lead. With the threat of the Mist ANBU eliminated, the two leaders kept a steady but not overwhelmingly fast pace. Kohari was glad for the reprieve. Kohari knew that she was almost out of chakra having used the majority of her chakra to maintain her Hankyō almost nonstop for the past few days of travel. She could feel the beginnings of chakra exhaustion starting in her body. It took all of Kohari's concentration to land on the branches in front of her without falling. She was dizzy and lightheaded, and she could just start to see black creeping into the edge of her vision.

Before Kohari could alert the group to her imminent fainting, Monkey and Ox suddenly dropped down from the trees. The Uminos and the ANBU surrounding them followed and found themselves on a well-traveled path. Kohari landed in a crouch, but as she stood up, she started to sway. It was only Ikkaku's hands on her shoulders that prevented her from falling over.

"Alright, Love?" Ikkaku quietly questioned. Kohari gave a small nod back. She opened her mouth to answer, but a wave of dizziness swept over her. Letting out a gasp, Kohari crumbled to the ground, Ikkaku's arms the only things propping her upper body up off the dirt road.

"Kohari!" Ikkaku exclaimed, freeing one hand from around his wife to cradle her cheek. Kohari slowly blinked up at Ikkaku, taking in his worried brown eyes. She blinked once more and saw the white mask of Monkey peering at her. Someone was talking but the darkness was creeping in, forcing Kohari into unconsciousness.

"Get he- o the -pital. Ox wil- the -kage and-"

Kohari knew no more.

* * *

_"We can't stay," Kohari stated. "It’s no longer safe. They've already been by eight times in the last two days alone trying to catch me."_

_Ikkaku sighed and put his head in his hands. He knew his wife was right. ANBU had been after Kohari ever since the order was given. Currently, Ikkaku and Kohari were huddled in the crawl space beneath their living room, the only place in the house where Ikkaku had warded tight enough to be sure they wouldn't be found._

_Ikkaku lifted his head to stare at his wife. Kohari's dark eyes were blown wide, fear and determination shining through them. In her arms she cradled baby Iruka. The baby, only two and a half months old, was sleeping soundly in his mother's arms, oblivious to the conversation happening above him. Ikkaku stared at his son, his innocent little Iruka. They had to do something, anything, to survive the massacre happening in their village._

_"We have to go," Kohari softly stated. Ikkaku lifted his eyes to meet those of his wife. "We can get out; book passage on a boat as travelers and leave."_

_"And where would we go?" questioned Ikkaku. "Anywhere we decide on, ANBU will hunt us down. They want you dead." Kohari was silent for a moment, thinking of possible locations. Her eyes widened as it suddenly hit her._

_"Konoha," she breathed. "We’ll go to Konoha. They already have clans with kekkei genkai. They would welcome another." Ikkaku was silent, thinking of her suggestion. The land of fire was not far, and they could most likely make it there in several days. The only thing tying them to Mist was their loyalty as shinobi, and even that was a thin connection at this point._

_"We'll need to move quickly," he decided. "Seal everything we can that's important in scrolls and sell off the rest. You can't be seen, the ANBU still think you're on a mission since you never reported back in. I'll take care of selling the non-essentials, you seal up everything we need."_

_"We need to do this soon," said Kohari looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "Every minute we spend here is just one minute closer to getting caught." Looking at her baby, Kohari was filled with determination. They would get out of this and make a better life for their son; a life where he wouldn't be afraid to show his face for fear of being killed on the spot. They would make sure he survived this._

_"A week," said Kohari. "I want to be gone in a week, at max two weeks. It's too dangerous to stay longer." Ikkaku nodded in agreement._

_"Just a few more weeks."_

* * *

"We left ten days after that conversation," Ikkaku reported. He was sitting in a chair feeding Iruka. After getting Kohari to the hospital, Ikkaku, and subsequently Iruka, were taken to the T&I building in Konoha. It was there that Ikkaku spent the last several hours describing the situation in Mist and the Umino's decision to leave the village to the interrogator.

"I used a henge to sell our possessions," he said. Ikkaku kept looking at his son as he spoke. Iruka's little gasps as he sucked on his bottle distracting him from the horrors he just recounted. "Everything from furniture to clothes to random knick-knacks. We sold everything we could to get enough money for passage on a trading ship." Ikkaku fell silent once more, watching his son as he worked on getting the last of the milk out of the bottle.

"So then you booked passage and made for Konoha?" questioned the interrogator. Ikkaku lifted his head and met the eyes of the man across from him.

"Yes, we left as soon as we could," Ikkaku confirmed. "We placed our son under a sleeping genjutsu to keep him quiet until we reached fire country. We arrived a day after we set out from Mist and made our way here. You know the rest from the ANBU." The interrogator nodded in confirmation. Monkey and Ox had both already given their reports.

"That is all I need then," the interrogator stated as he stood. "I'll be back in a moment." The man walked to the door and left, leaving Ikkaku and Iruka alone, locked in the interrogation room.

Looking back to his son, Ikkaku saw Iruka was finished with the bottle. He removed the bottle from his son's mouth and placed it on the table in front of him. Grabbing a cloth from his pocket and placing it over his shoulder, Ikkaku lifted Iruka up against his chest, making sure the cloth would catch any spit-up from Iruka as he was burped.

As he gently patted his son's back, Ikkaku couldn't help but worry. He worried for his wife who was passed out in a foreign hospital under heavy ANBU guard. He worried about the decision as to whether or not they could stay in the village. He worried about the Mist ANBU coming back to kill his family. He worried for their fates that rested in the hands of one man. If one man found their story lacking, his family would be as good as dead.

Said man just so happened to open the door and walk into the room as Iruka violently spit up all over Ikkaku's back.

_Well, we've already made a wonderful first impression. Great._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what ya'll thought! Comments and kudos make my day so much brighter!
> 
> -LadyOfFics


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Thank you all for waiting for the next bit. It is hard for me to find time to write since I am currently applying to Master's programs right now. I am going to try and update at least once a month, maybe more, this semester. Having said that, this is my last semester at my school and I will be quite busy. I will do my best to keep up with this story, but I make no promises. 
> 
> This is a bit shorter than I expected, but I might go back and edit it later. Please let me know what you think down in the comments! I love reading them and it helps me generate ideas!

To say Ikkaku was embarrassed was an understatement. There he was in an interrogation room deep within the Hidden Leaf Village with a baby and throw-up on his back. Ikkaku blushed thinking about the ridiculousness of the situation. There was a moment of silence while Ikkaku and the Sandaime Hokage stared at one another. The moment was broken by Iruka letting out an ear-splitting wail. Ikkaku was quick to turn his back on the Hokage and comfort his sobbing son.

“Oh, ‘Ruka. It’s okay, love! I know, I know, shhhhh,” Ikkaku murmured as he swayed in his seat, trying to calm the baby. Iruka ignored his father’s attempts of soothing and continued to cry. Out of the corner of his eye, Ikkaku saw a figure in white and red approach him. Ikkaku turned his head to see the Sandaime Hokage in front of him with a soft smile on his face.

“May I?” the Hokage asked gesturing to the crying baby. “I may know a trick or two that work with my own children.” Ikkaku glanced down at Iruka, who was still sobbing and now flailing his arms. Though hesitant to release his hold on his son, Ikkaku was sure he didn’t have a choice at that point. Ikkaku shifted Iruka in his arms and held the crying, squirming baby out to the Sandaime. The Sandaime reached out and took Iruka and held him with one hand under Iruka’s bottom and one hand under Iruka’s chin. The Hokage then rocked Iruka up and down, and within moments, Iruka’s cries stopped. Ikkaku looked on in amazement as the Sandaime calmed his son. Within moments, Iruka was calmed and falling asleep in the Sandaime’s hold. Ikkaku looked up from his son’s dozing face when he heard a light chuckle from the man holding him.

“It’s a guaranteed way to calm little ones,” the Hokage stated with a small smile. “It has worked so far on mine.” Ikkaku nodded and took note of the position of the Hokage’s hands and bouncing rhythm. He was definitely trying this the next time Iruka got upset. He couldn’t wait to share this with Koh-

Ikkaku choked on air as his eyes flew up to the Hokage’s face.

“Kohari. Is she-?”

“She will recover,” stated the Hokage. The Hokage brought the now sleeping baby into his chest as he shifted his arms to cradle Iruka before continuing. “She has suffered extreme chakra exhaustion. My operatives have told me she was using some type of kekkei genkai.” The Hokage paused, looking Ikkaku in the eye and waiting for him to elaborate.

“Yes, it is a kekkei genkai from my wife’s father’s side of the family,” Ikkaku revealed. “The call it the Hankyō, reverberation.” The Sandaime looked thoughtful.

“And how does this Hankyō work?” questioned the Hokage while moving to the other side of the table and sitting down, Iruka still contently sleeping in his arms. Ikkaku sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He imagined the tongue lashing Kohari would give him for revealing her family’s secrets so willingly.

_Forgive me my love, but if it helps our case, I must._

Ikkaku took a deep breath before letting it out and opening his eyes. The Sandaime stared at him with one eyebrow raised, waiting for an explanation.

“The Hankyō is the kekkei genkai from my wife’s family as I have stated. It is used by pushing chakra from one’s body outward in waves. By doing this, the user is able to gather a picture of the surrounding area and locate other chakra users,” Ikkaku explained. “The user is able to physically see the chakra waves with their enhanced eyes and optical nerves.”

“Yes, Monkey did report seeing your wife with very distinctive eyes and veins on her face when this Hankyō of hers was in use,” the Sandaime mused out loud. Ikkaku nodded.

“Yes, Hokage-sama. Kohari has been using her gift non-stop for almost three days straight,” Ikkaku revealed. “She was bound to have chakra exhaustion sooner or later, but she was determined to make it here before that happened.” The Hokage hummed, not making a comment. The Hokage continued to stare at Ikkaku for several moments with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I know you seek shelter from your village,” the Sandaime stated. “and rightfully so if the rumors coming from Kiri are to be believed. However, I cannot allow foreign ninja to roam about the village.”

Ikkaku’s heart sank at the proclamation from the Hokage. But before Ikkaku could beg the Hokage to reconsider, the man continued.

“I know your pain has been great, and the way in which you left your village has been stressful, so I am willing to compromise,” the Hokage said. “You will be put under twenty-four-hour surveillance by ANBU for a year-long probation period. You will be watched for the slightest hint of treachery, be it training with jutsu or attempting to flee the ANBU guards, and will be forbidden from leaving the village and contacting anyone outside of the village. If, after this period, you and your wife are deemed safe, you and your family will be officially accepted as Fire-nation citizens and recognized as Leaf Ninja of your current ranks. Do we have an agreement?”

Ikkaku hesitated for a moment, thinking of Kohari and her reaction. Ikkaku knew that Kohari would jump at the chance of safety for their son, but Ikkaku had one concern.

“Before I accept this arrangement on behalf of myself and my wife, there is one thing Kohari must do,” the man stated. The Hokage looked surprised for a moment before looking interested.

“Oh?” questioned the Hokage. “And what would that be?” Ikkaku sighed, thinking of the fit both Kohari and her summons would throw.

“She has to tell her overprotective summons why they’ll not be able to visit their favorite summoner for a year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped everybody enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Does anybody have good ideas for potential names for some summons? Let me know in the comments if you do because I am having a really hard time coming up with names I like.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> As of right now, this is a one-shot. If enough people enjoy this and want to see more, I am open to adding more and turning this into a series. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> -LadyOfFics


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